The Crystal Dragon Series Collection

by Katie Cherry

  “Good. You’re doing much better,” Hunter observes, watching him closely. “Now we can move on.”

  “…Move on?” Nathan repeats. That sure doesn’t sound good.

  “Yes. Since it’s taking a while to get into contact with the man who Fixed you, we’ll just have another group of sorcerers examine you with magic and try to discover just what he did to block your Gifts so we can replicate it,” Hunter explains, opening the door to the room. Although Nathan had long-awaited the time when it would open and he’d be free to walk out, he now hesitates. Would I be able to fight Hunter off and escape the castle if I just ran through the door right now? Another Dragon Hunter appears at the door as if summoned by Nathan’s plans of escape. No. It’s not possible to do that right now. …But maybe later…

  “Come on,” Hunter commands, striding out in front and leading the way down the hall. Nathan walks freely behind him, although the guard follows so closely behind, he knows there’s no chance of slipping past either of them. Resigning himself to playing along with Hunter’s commands- for now- Nathan quietly trots along behind him, showing no outward resistance.

  When they reach the designated room, he enters without complaint, although he stiffens when he sees the fifteen Dragon Hunters standing impatiently throughout the room, surrounding the lone chair as it cowers in the center of the suffocating animosity. The guard behind him shoves him into the room so he can close the door behind them. As the door closes, a panic similar to what he figures Crystal must feel whenever she thinks about this castle rises in his chest, flooding his body with ice. He remains frozen in place and hardly hears a woman speaking to him until she finally suggests the others leave and come back should she call for them. “Besides,” she adds, “Who says this job even needs all of us anyway? We might get more from him if he’s more relaxed. Too many people is stressing him out. I’ll call you all back in if I need.” After a few disgruntled murmurs, they all leave.

  Hunter is the last to go. “Don’t forget to report to me when you’re finished,” he commands her. “Also, when you’re done, lock him up with Zelda, Y’vette, and Chet.”

  She looks startled at this unexpected change in plans. “All three of them?”

  “Well, don’t shove them all in the same cell,” Hunter sighs, exasperated at having to explain himself. “Just put him in the same area as the rest.”

  “Ah. Right. Of course, my lord,” she accepts, bowing a little. With a satisfied nod, Hunter leaves, shutting the door softly behind him.

  The girl turns to Nathan. She seems to be about his age, yet filled with a surprising amount of self-confidence. “Nathan Anderson, is it?”

  “Yes,” Nathan answers shortly, watching her closely.

  She laughs softly. “Nathan, I am not your enemy. There’s no need for such discord between us. …I would like us to be friends.”

  “Friends?” he scoffs. “With a Dragon Hunter? Sorry, lady, but you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

  She smiles kindly at him, then leans closer, lowering her voice. “Could you be friends with a spy who’s actually working for the King and Queen?” Her light green eyes twinkle at the surprise on his face. Extending a hand, she formally introduces herself. “My name’s Alyssa Greenston, and it’s a real pleasure to meet you,” she says.

  After hesitating a few more seconds and scanning her face for traces of deception, Nathan finally accepts the extended hand. “And the same for you. …So are you going to break me out of this place?”

  She laughs. “You sure don’t waste a second. I’m afraid I can’t do anything immediately, but when I take you to join the other three, I’ll be sure to leave the keys in an accessible place for you to break yourself out. …Just a word of advice, though,” she adds when she catches sight of the elation on his face, “don’t try and break out immediately. Wait for about an hour and a half. Most everyone will be asleep by then- including the guards. They’ve only just returned from their fruitless trek into the mountains and are exhausted. I bet you anything all of them will be dozing off, despite the new threat of Hunter and Dexter.”

  “…Hunter and Dexter? You mean that grey-haired guy I saw yesterday? Why are they so scary? I thought Patrick was the fear-inducing one.”

  “Oh, he was at one point,” she confirms. “But now that Hunter’s the leader…”

  “Wait, what?!” Nathan interrupts, shocked. “Hunter’s the Dragon Hunter’s leader now? Why? What happened?”

  “I heard Dexter was just sick of Patrick’s failings,” Alyssa shrugs. “Anyway, he’s kind of helping Hunter out as he gets used to taking over, but he’s pretty much got it down already. Dexter will probably be leaving in the next day or so. …Oh, and he’s kind of the guy over Hunter.”

  “…So Hunter’s not the leader?”

  She grimaces. “It’s a little more complicated than that,” she admits. She’s about to continue when the door opens and the guard who followed Nathan to the room peeks his head in.

  “Any progress yet?”

  “Not yet,” Alyssa responds cheerily. “But I’m sure it will just take a little time. Just give me a few more minutes, then we can take him to join the others.” He nods in acceptance and closes the door once more. “Well, it seems we are out of time to talk,” Alyssa pouts a little, turning back to Nathan.

  “That’s alright,” he sighs. “So you’re going to help me break out?”

  “I’m going to help you help yourself,” she smiles. “Just grab the keys from where I leave them. …In fact, you could break out the other three while you’re in there. Just be careful- the more people you take with you, the more likely you are to get caught.”

  “Okay,” Nathan nods.

  “Good. Let’s go, then,” she says with a wink before pulling open the door. The guard follows the two through the halls into the dark dungeon, grabbing a torch at the top of the stairwell. The flickering firelight helps a little to see the stone steps as they descend, but for the most part, the light is hardly strong enough to see anything very well- for which Nathan is suddenly grateful. He has a feeling the dungeon is quite filthy, judging from the smell cloying the dank air.

  “Alrighty, here we are,” Alyssa announces energetically. “Your new home sweet home!” She unlocks the cell door with keys from her belt and ushers Nathan into the small room. There’s a small, simple cot in the corner and a bucket in the other corner, which Nathan realizes with queasiness must be the ‘toilet.’ There are no lights except the light given by the torch still clenched in the guard’s hand, and that diminishes as he starts walking away. Alyssa stoops closer and whispers quickly to Nathan. “I’m leaving the keys by the door. If anyone asks what happened to them, I’ll say I dropped them. I’ll see if I can get the torch to stay down here so you can see. Good luck, Nathan.”

  After they both leave, a faint, tired voice pipes up as Nathan scrabbles to find the keys. The torchlight doesn’t penetrate the darkness deep enough into the cells to illuminate who’s speaking, but Nathan recognizes the voice. “Nathan? Nathan Anderson?”

  “Zelda?”

  “Nathan’s here now too?” This time it’s Y’vette speaking.

  “Come to join the party?” Chet chuckles. Nathan’s alarmed to hear wet coughing following the short laugh.

  “Chet? Are you okay?”

  “I’ve been tortured off and on by Patrick for weeks. How do you think I’m doing?” he growls.

  “Don’t mind Chet,” Zelda sighs. “He’s just had a harder time than Y’vette and I. In fact, Patrick seems to have been not doing much with us at all.”

  Nathan frowns. “Huh. I wonder why.”

  “Who cares?” Chet sighs. “You’re the lucky ones. …I’m not sure how much more of this I can take before I crack and tell Patrick everything I know and pledge myself to him once more.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Nathan quickly assures him. “Because we’re getting out of here. …Tonight,” he murmurs, holding up the four keys. They glint in the torchlight, ign
iting a flame inside of Nathan. No one can hold me back.

  ******

  Waiting the appointed hour and a half was torturous, but eventually, the time comes for their escape. Now came the hard part- unlocking his own cell. Crawling over to the door, he reaches up and feels for the keyhole with his fingertips. Finally finding it, he fits his other arm all the way through the bars as far as he can before bending it back. Grunting, he maneuvers the key into the lock. It takes a surprising amount of effort to twist the key, but he manages it. As he does so, his back spasms and sends him to the floor. The world around him spins as he pants, struggling to contain the sharp pain running up and down his spine.

  “Nathan? What happened?” Zelda whispers.

  “…Nothing,” he grunts, forcing himself back to his knees and retrieving the other keys. Scrambling to his feet, he staggers across the small hallway to Zelda’s cell. Fishing out a key, he tries it in the lock. His trembling fingers drop the key, and taking a steadying breath, he stoops and picks it back up. Tears spring to his eyes as his back screams in protest. Not making a sound of complaint, he fits the key into the lock before slipping it into his back pocket. Zelda slowly creeps out and into the faint torchlight. Her eyes are hollow and she seemed pale and tired, but otherwise seemed to be untouched. She narrows her eyes at him.

  “Nathan, what happened to you? Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine,” he grunts, shuffling to the cell beside hers. Y’vette seems to be in much the same state as Zelda. Chet, however, seemed to be rather harshly beat up. One of his eyes was black, and there was dried blood from his nose and mouth caked on his face, as well as from a cut on his cheekbone.

  He lowers his eyes, not wanting to see Nathan’s response to his state. “Let’s go,” he mutters. “Assuming you’re fit to lead us out of here, that is.”

  “I told you, I’m fine,” Nathan asserts.

  “Alright. Let’s go, then.”

  Nodding, Nathan starts toward the stairs leading upwards; toward freedom. When he passes the torch from its spot on the wall, he tells Y’vette to carry it. She walks behind him with Zelda and Chet following closely. He stops at the wooden door at the top and listens carefully. When there’s no sound, he cracks the door open and peeks out. When he sees that there’s no one near, he nods to the others behind him. Y’vette places the torch where the guard first grabbed it, by the door. Nathan, wincing a little at the pain, steps out into the hall.

  As the others blink rapidly to adjust to the brighter light, Nathan addresses them quietly. “Everyone should be asleep. Be quick and quiet, and we’ll get out of here without a problem.” The others nod, then wait for him to lead the way out of the castle.

  There’s a guard at the door that leads outside, but he’s asleep, just as Alyssa promised. They sneak past him and emerge bright-eyed into the wind-swept terrain. “I can’t believe it,” Chet murmurs. “I’ve been there for so long, and you’ve been here hardly longer than twenty-four hours and you got us all out. Just like that.” Nathan’s unsure if it’s disdain or awe that echoes in his voice.

  “Well, I had inside help,” he admits. “That girl that brought me down left the keys for the cells and told me how long to wait until everyone would be asleep.”

  “You found a sympathizer that fast? Incredible,” Y’vette comments.

  Another spasm of pain wracks Nathan’s body and he grimaces. “Let’s just get out of here, okay? We’re not home-free yet.” They nod in confirmation and follow him through the woods. Although it takes the injured group a while, they finally emerge into the Village.

  “It’s deserted,” Zelda observes worriedly.

  “What has happened while we were gone?” Y’vette asks concernedly.

  “I… don’t know,” Nathan admits. “…Let’s continue on. There must be someone still here… somewhere.” The rest agree and cautiously follow him deeper into the Village, looking around in the pre-dawn air for signs of other Villagers.

  Nathan jumps when an arrow suddenly clatters to a stop by his feet. As he does so, a fresh wave of agony washes over him, sending him tumbling to the ground. “Nathan!” Zelda and Y’vette cry, falling to their knees beside him. “Were… were you shot?” Zelda’s hands race over his body, searching for a wound.

  “No… I was… hurt before,” he admits, his muscles tense as he fights his body’s urging to scream with everything he has.

  “Oh, Dragonfire!” A young man scrambles forward from behind an overturned wagon. He drops his bow and quiver of arrows as he hurries over. “Did I hit him? I…I’m sorry, I thought he was…”

  “Jared!” The owner of the scolding voice strides up from behind a nearby house. His bearing is the opposite of the young man’s. Whereas Jared seemed to be a kind and lighthearted man, the newcomer was harsh and weathered, as though he had seen the darker parts of life too regularly. “Did you just shoot at these Villagers? What have I been telling you, over and over again?”

  “Identify friend from foe before you shoot,” Jared mutters, looking at the ground as he scuffs his boot against the stones.

  “Exactly. Now-”

  “Excuse me, sir,” Nathan interrupts as he forces himself back to his feet. Tears pool in his eyes, and it’s all he can do to forcibly keep them from falling. “Jared here is just fine. Don’t yell at him or blame him or anything. He didn’t even hit me. Just startled me a little.”

  The older man’s hard eyes look him over. “I suppose not, but that’s only because he’s a bad shot. …You’re obviously in pain for some reason or another, as is that boy,” he adds, gesturing to Chet. “Jared,” he snaps, returning his attention to the young man, “to make up for your idiotic mistake, escort this group to the hospital. If you come back before the end of the day, you’ll get five lashings at the Post! Attend to their every need.”

  “Oh no, you don’t have to…”

  The military man waves a dismissive hand, cutting Zelda off. “No, no, I insist. It’ll do the boy good anyway.” With that, he nods farewell and strides away, his hand ever gripping the sword buckled to his side.

  Jared glances up at them through his brown hair as it hangs at the level of his eyes, a bashful smile on his face. “Sorry about that arrow. I’m not exactly used to being a soldier yet.”

  Nathan frowns at him. “You don’t look the type to be a soldier,” he observes. “Why did you join?”

  “Well, the King ordered every able-bodied man to join his army,” he states, as though everyone knew it. And maybe everyone does. Everyone but us, that is, Nathan sighs to himself.

  “He ordered it?” Y’vette looks like she had just been slapped.

  Jared glances over at her bashfully. “Well, yeah, he was really… distraught. I like to think he politely asked us, though,” he adds with a small smile. Everyone shifts where they stand uncomfortably until Nathan finally speaks up.

  “Well, I’m sure that we can catch up on everything later. How about we all head up to the hospital now?”

  Chet nods. “Yeah, we’re wasting time just standing here.” Nathan resists wincing when he watches him speak. He had already looked bad in the dungeon, but in the light from the rising sun, he looked horrific. His face and arms were covered in bruises, some of them beginning to fade and some of them very fresh. He had numerous cuts and welts as well- and not just on his face, either.

  Jared snaps to attention at this. “Of course! My apologies,” he quickly says before turning towards the hospital. “Follow me.”

  ******

  Nathan isn’t surprised when the hospital staff recognizes him, but he is surprised to be so relaxed as they usher him to a bed. He used to feel smothered here thanks to all the time he was forced to be still and not move. As he lies on the mattress with nurses swarming around him, Jared comes up and stands beside him, looking concerned. “Is there anything you need? Anything you want me to do?” he anxiously asks.

  “Yes, actually,” he replies. “Go tell Crystal and Thaddeus that I’m here and that
I need to talk to them.”

  Jared looks relieved to have a task to do. “Of course! Right away, sir!” He then spins on his heel and marches out the door.

  Satisfied, Nathan leans back onto the bed and closes his eyes. Despite the nurses bustling loudly around him, he quickly fades to sleep, thoroughly exhausted.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Revenge

  “Crystal! It’s not that hard! Just focus!” The exasperated voice belongs to the gorgeous brunette who sits beside me on my bed, her perfect legs crossed. The jeans were from my closet and were meant for me, although whereas they’d do no favors for my figure, they make Angela’s legs look so feminine I was more jealous than I should be. The dark fabric clung to her skin, sleek all the way down where they disappear into her boots- which were actually also mine. Those black, high-heeled wonders didn’t trip Angela up at all the way they would me, and she walked like a model in them. Her shirt was a blue silky thing that made her eyes even more beautiful.

  The more time I spend with her, the more I hate her.

  “Crystal! Are you even listening to me?” She demands, staring at me in dismay.

  I sigh. “Yes! Maybe magic just isn’t as easy for me as it is for you, okay? Maybe you just need to realize that even though you’re a shining star at everything you do, not everyone can catch onto something so… strange so quickly! So just stop yelling at me!” My rant puts surprise and dismay onto her face.

  “I… I’m sorry, Princess, I just… I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be so impatient… it’s just… Nathan…”

  The instant she says his name, I stop listening. Somehow whenever her perfect red lips form the syllables of his name, I feel like she’s punching me in the gut. His name sounds all wrong when she says it. I don’t know how she messes it up so much, but she does. I feel like she douses it in honey, trying to make it sweeter, when really she just doesn’t know that it’s amazing the way it is.